Rwanda: Investigate Anti-Corruption Campaigner’s Murder

(Nairobi) – Official investigations into
the murder of a Rwandan anti-corruption activist appear to
have ground to a halt six months later. The case has
received surprisingly little public attention, and the
victim’s family is still awaiting justice. Human Rights
Watch has visited the town of Rubavu where the body was
found and interviewed witnesses and the police.

Gustave
Makonene, coordinator of Transparency International
Rwanda’s Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre in Rubavu,
northwestern Rwanda, was last seen leaving his office
in Rubavu on the evening of July 17, 2013. Residents of
Nyiraruhonga found his body on the morning of July 18 just
off a road along the shore of Lake Kivu. A police medical
report indicates he was strangled.

As part of his work for
Transparency International, Makonene had handled allegations
of corruption, some of which reportedly involved members of
the police.

“Corruption is a sensitive issue in Rwanda,
as in many countries,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human
Rights Watch. “The murder of Makonene should have raised
alarm bells. Instead there has been a disturbing
silence.”

In the days following the discovery of
Makonene’s body, local police arrested four people in
connection with the murder, but they were released in August
for lack of evidence. Since then, investigations by the
police and the prosecutor’s office appear to have
stalled.

In discussions with independent witnesses and
with the police, Human Rights Watch learned that a man in
civilian clothes, who introduced himself as an employee of
the national utilities company but was later identified as a
police officer, visited the Transparency International
Rwanda office in Rubavu three times before the murder of
Makonene, including two days before he was killed.

On each
occasion, the officer tried to ascertain what Makonene
looked like and what his movements were. He asked for and
obtained Makonene’s personal phone number, but apparently
did not call Makonene or talk to him directly, even though
Makonene was in the office during one of his visits. On the
day of Makonene’s murder, the man phoned a person close to
Makonene to try to confirm his location.

The police
questioned this police officer and sent the statement to the
prosecutor’s office. The police told Human Rights Watch
that the officer had been asking questions about Makonene in
a personal capacity.

“The fact that Makonene may have
been looking into police corruption and that a police
officer was seeking to confirm his identity just before his
murder raises questions, at the very least,” Bekele said.
“The police should explore all potential leads, including
by interviewing people around the site where Makonene’s
body was found.”

Human Rights Watch spoke with numerous
residents of Nyiraruhonga, including some who discovered
Makonene’s body. One of them described how Makonene was
found slumped against a tree, with a rope around his neck.
The witness said that when the rope was taken off, a deep
bruise was visible on Makonene’s throat.

Makonene’s
body was found just off a road leading out of Rubavu, past
the BRALIRWA brewery. The only practical way
to reach this road is to drive through the brewery gates.
The brewery monitors access to its gates at night, except in
the case of police or military vehicles. Multiple witnesses
confirmed to Human Rights Watch that Makonene left his
office on July 17 after 8 p.m.

The location of
Makonene’s body makes it likely that police could
determine how the body came to be there, and possibly who
brought it, Human Rights Watch said.

Two people were
identified to Human Rights Watch as witnesses who saw
Makonene’s body dumped from a vehicle. But they declined
to speak to Human Rights Watch, even confidentially,
illustrating the extreme sensitivity of the case.

After
the police arrested four men in connection with Makonene’s
murder, the prosecutor’s office ordered the release of two
of them and argued for preventative detention for the other
two. However, the Rubavu Court of Higher Instance ordered
their release on August 5 on the basis that the prosecutor
lacked evidence against them. The Musanze High Court upheld
that decision on August 29.

On December 7, Major Vita
Hama, the spokesman for the Rwanda National Police, Western
Province, told Human Rights Watch that there had been no
significant progress in the case and that the prosecutor’s
office had not asked the police to investigate further.
Damas Gatare, spokesman for the Rwanda National Police at
the national level, told Human Rights Watch on December 16
that the case had been handed to the prosecutor’s office
and that Human Rights Watch should contact it for
details.

The Rubavu prosecutor referred Human Rights Watch
to the spokesman for the National Public Prosecution
Authority, Alain Mukuralinda, who confirmed on December 18
that the case had not progressed. However, Justice Minister
Johnston Busingye told Human Rights Watch on December 24
that the file was still open.

Makonene’s murder received
very little public attention. The silence illustrates the
weakness of independent organizations and media in Rwanda.
As a result of years of government intimidation, threats, and
infiltration, few Rwandan nongovernmental organizations
carry out detailed investigations or publish reports on
politically sensitive issues or human rights abuses by
government agents. Even fewer carry out in-depth work on
corruption. Most Rwandan journalists also avoid
investigating or reporting on sensitive cases.

Rwandan
authorities should revive their investigations into
Makonene’s murder, Human Rights Watch said, both to
deliver justice and to reassure anti-corruption and human
rights activists that the police and prosecuting authority
treat such cases with the seriousness they deserve.
Transparency International said that it was continuing
advocacy to press law enforcement authorities in Rwanda for
a conclusion to the police investigations.

“In most
other countries, the unresolved murder of an anti-corruption
campaigner would have made the headlines, and independent
groups would be clamoring for justice,” Bekele said.
“Instead, it seems everyone is just hoping the issue will
go away. This sends a chilling message to those campaigning
for accountability in
Rwanda.”

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